Lawmakers chafed about Obama's plan to fly into Mansfield airport that houses Air Guard base

Tuesday

Jul 31, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 1, 2012 at 1:43 AM

Ohio Republican lawmakers are grumbling about President Obama's decision to fly into Mansfield Lahm Airport tomorrow – the same airport that houses an Air National Guard Base that Obama has proposed shuttering.

Ohiolawmakers are grumbling about President Obama's decision to fly into Mansfield Lahm Airport tomorrow – the same airport that houses an Air Natioanl Guard Unit that the president has proposed eliminating.

Obama this year released a budget that would cut Air Guard bases around the country and eliminate the 179th Air National Guard Wing in Mansfield – cuts that lawmakers say would also eliminate 800 jobs at the base. The White House is quick to point out that should the proposal go through, the base wouldn't close - there'd still be 200th Red Horse Squadron, a civil engineering unit, for example.

During a White House briefing earlier today, Ann Compton of ABC News asked Press Secretary Jay Carney about the decision to fly into Mansfield. "I'm not aware of the policy implications of the issue you're discussing," Carney replied.

"It's amazing that this administration did not realize the President would be landing at the very airport his administration wants to shut down -which would be the end result of his plan to cancel the C-27J cargo aircraft program," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana. "Obviously the White House is not aware of the good work done by the men and women of the 179th Airlift Wing, many of whom recently returned from a first-of-its-kind resupply mission in Afghanistan."

"If President Obama has his way, his Air Force One arrival would be one of the final flights into Mansfield-Lahm Airport," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. " Despite numerous reports highlighting the value of the 179th, and the critical capability they and their C-27J aircraft provide to our deployed soldiers, President Obama wants to do away with the mission for the 800 Guardsmen at the base. Time and again, these Ohioans have answered the call to serve. They must be pretty frustrated to see the president drop into town, ignore their award-winning work, and fail to give them a straight answer about his plans to end their important mission."

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, meanwhile, said he hopes that Obama tomorrow "will get a better sense of just how vital the C-27J program is to the Air National Guard Base at Mansfield and the economy of north-central Ohio."

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a Defense spending bill in July that restored money for the bases. President Obama had threatened to veto that bill, but the bill passed the House by veto-proof margins. Both the House and Senate have included language in their draft Defense Authorization bills freezing the retirement of the Guard aircraft for a year in order to have the proposals re-evaluated.

The Mansfield Guard Base has been targeted before; in 2005, it narrowly escaped closure through the base realignment and closure process.

It's not the first time this year Obama has flown into an Ohio base being threatened by budget cuts. In March, Obama flew into Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, which could lose some 200 jobs because of the loss of six KC-135s there. While Obama was there, Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, handed him a letter protesting the cuts.

In all, Obama's fiscal 2013 budget – which has not passed Congress – would propose cuts of more than 1,000 National Guard jobs in Ohio, including 800 in Mansfield.

Updated: White House spokeswoman Joanna Rosholmsaid the White House made the tough decision to nix the C-27Js because they feel the larger C-130 aircraft can do the job just as effectively. The proposal came out of recommendations from Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The president, she said, "is committed to working with the Department of Defense to find a mission for Mansfield Lahm Air National Guard Base, so that the men and women who serve there can continue to make their important contribution to ournational security."

She didn't specify what sort of mission Obama has in mind, but Brown, a Mansfield native, appears to be willing to hold the administrationto that commitment. "While the proposed elimination of the C-27Jis concerning, the news of a follow-on mission is very encouraging," he said.

Meanwhile, this bon mot from Ohio Republican Party Chair Robert Bennett: "Punching someone in the stomach and then asking them for their lunch money probably won't go over well with people in Mansfield."

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